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There's a transcript of the mission briefing, complete with pictures, on your PDA. ((Not entirely sure what you want me to do here. Just pretend your character has essentially read the conference thread at this point, I suppose. ))

Something catches my eye in the squad lists: They're the same length. I count them to make sure I've not made a mistake, but no—there are ten members. And none of them are me.
So there are eleven of us out of cryo? Did they just wake too many people up hoping to make up for losses? No, SCAMPS had present-tense when he said that there are ten of us.
It strikes me then: Someone's died. Nobody bothered to include timestamps in the briefing, so I'm not sure how long the mission's been going, but the point still stands. This is just as lethal as my creators had hoped.I finish my water and go to the mess to grab a quick snack. It wouldn't do to fight on an empty stomach, and given the fact that someone's dead there's obviously fighting.

Something catches my eye in the squad lists: They're the same length. I count them to make sure I've not made a mistake, but no—there are ten members. And none of them are me.
So there are eleven of us out of cryo? Did they just wake too many people up hoping to make up for losses? No, SCAMPS had present-tense when he said that there are ten of us.
It strikes me then: Someone's died. Nobody bothered to include timestamps in the briefing, so I'm not sure how long the mission's been going, but the point still stands. This is just as lethal as my creators had hoped.I finish my water and go to the mess to grab a quick snack. It wouldn't do to fight on an empty stomach, and given the fact that someone's dead there's obviously fighting.

You put down the cup on a nearby table and, realizing you're hungry (probably because it's been years since you've eaten), decide to head to the mess hall. Your PDA says there is one, somewhere. No one stops you as you leave the room, and it isn't long before you're walking down the long, narrow corridors on one of the upper decks, headed for the bow of the Nemesis. Thankfully, there are signs to point the way.

~~~

The woman behind the counter stares at you.

When you arrived, she had been doing something in the back. You tapped on the counter, and finally asked if anyone was there, to which you heard: "Just a minute!" Now she's looking at you like there's something wrong with you. She has frazzled brown hair and looks, perhaps, middle-aged. It's hard to read her beyond that.

"Um, yeah. They just woke me up so I'm still working things out, but I think someone died and I'm to regenerate them." I pull a wry face. "Hopefully they won't need another this mission." If there's no response, ask for a ration bar and go off to Command, I guess. Otherwise continue the conversation.

She looks at you sideways for a moment. "Mmmmhm," she says slowly. "That's unusual - they don't usually send reinforcements on REKT missions. I guess this is a special occasion, though. I wouldn't be surprised if more people died..." she pauses, and then adds as an afterthought, "I hope they don't get Frank... Anyway, what can I get for you?"

"Something good to eat on the go—compact, filling. I don't really care too much about the flavor, within reason." I eat the thing as I walk to the battle bridge.

"Yeah, here you go," the woman says, reaching under the counter and pulling out a bar. "Not sure what flavor, just got a box sitting here for people that don't care what they get. Makes it easier. Hope you don't mind!"

You accept the bar and leave.

... you soon discover it seems to be some unholy mishmash of cured chicken paste and imitation dried fruit, held together with some kind of grain, and press-dried into a chewy mass so hard you can barely bite through it. Such are ration bars, you suppose. These were clearly cheap. Surprisingly, it doesn't taste half bad.

~~~

You stand just inside the doorway of the battle bridge, munching the last bits of your ration bar as you get a good view of the place. The walls are thick - it's built like a rock, meant to be the safest part of the ship. Beyond that, the design is fairly complex. It's built almost like a large cube, descending from the upper decks into the hangar. You step over to the balcony railing overlooking the lower floors and, down below, can actually see through the lower windows into the hangar itself. It's a busy place - but perhaps not as busy as it would be if the Nemesis was fully crewed, or up in space. Most of the crew seems to be elsewhere, but there are definitely a few people busily supervising things down below.

I ask the nearest not-uninterruptibly-busy person where I can find Lt. Dyoun. I then go to that place and ask Dyoun for a quick situation report. Hopefully she can get me up to speed before I'm dispatched.

I ask the nearest not-uninterruptibly-busy person where I can find Lt. Dyoun. I then go to that place and ask Dyoun for a quick situation report. Hopefully she can get me up to speed before I'm dispatched.

Looking around, you sight an engineer over to your left, seemingly repairing a faulty control console. He has it opened up; you can see all the wiring inside. Hoping he'll be able to assist you, you head over to him.

The man looks up as you approach, and you quickly discover his thick accent. "Ay, I halp ya mate?" The way he pronounces "mate" sounds more like "mite". "Danald Swizenaiga at ya service." He's speaking around some sort of tool he's holding between his teeth - something like a cross between a flashlight, a camera, and possibly a projector.

The man nods vigorously, and offers you a hand. He gives you a very firm - if brief - handshake. "Ay, you're one of them new REKT lads, are ya? Ya, 'ey said you jes come outta cryo! Blimey, man's havan na marcy on ya par impavarshed sals eh, if ey ain't een givna farta wonks atterdat fiscio." He devolves into some sort of dialect for a moment and then looks at you. Not knowing what else to do, you nod. He nods back knowingly, and - praise FSM - takes the tool out from between his teeth. His speech clears up immediately. "Yeh, she's down that way, mate. Just take those stairs down yonder, head to one of the bottom floors. Look for a gal with black pigtails and enough energy to get them engines runnin' again. Can't miss her if you tried."

You thank him and let him get back to work, heading off on the final part of your little quest to find someone who can tell you just what the hell is going on.

~~~

"OH MY GOD!!!"

It's Cho. The black pigtails are certainly her defining feature, followed closely by a mixture of European and Asian facial features - slightly narrowed eyes, a thin face, a modest nose, small mouth. She's shorter than you, but not by too much - perhaps a few inches. She makes up for this with an overwhelming enthusiasm and cheerfulness. She spins the chair away from the console and gets quickly to her feet.

"You're one of the new REKT people!!" she laughs in delight, clasping your hands like a long-lost friend. "Oh, they must've just pulled you out of cryo! Did SCAMPS send you down here? --- No, he wouldn't have, would he. But you're one of my people, right? You can call me Cho, and I'm so happy to get to meet you! I love getting to know my people better, and it helps everyone last longer if I know their tendencies. Well - actually, Miranda already died, and the others aren't looking much better - but you must be here to replace her! You'll love it out there - it's a beautiful sunshiny day, there aren't even clouds on this planet! ...Oh - and how are you feeling? You look a bit sick." She stops short, abruptly, looking at you with a puzzled, questioning expression.

"Oh... okay," she says, suddenly unsure about herself - but she recovers quickly, bouncing on her toes for a moment. "So, how can I help you?"

"I'd like a brief situation report."

Cho sits back in her seat. "Okay... Well, you read the mission briefing transcript, right?" When you nod, she continues. "Alpha went up toward Huhoba Qitsit - that's the colony - and Beta is trying to go down toward the crashed Nacelle. Unfortunately, SOMEONE didn't keep a good enough leash on the enemy fighters, and they attacked my squads." (Cho says this pointedly in the direction of another similarly-uniformed woman sitting near her, who gives a brief, annoyed smile.) "That's when we lost Miranda, and now Alpha could probably use reinforcements - oh, one moment -" She turns away from you and checks out some of the screens around her. "Mhm... Well, that's kinda out of my jurisdiction!" You assume she's talking on the comms. "I'll talk to Reyha and try to get her to spare someone, but don't count on it happening! Sorry!"

You wait for her to finish. She says something else over the comms - something about scavengers and military forces - but you aren't paying much attention. You're eyeing the woman that Cho had glared at a few moments ago - Reyha, apparently. You get an uncomfortable feeling about her.

"You'll probably be joining Squad Alpha," Cho says - this time, to you. "I'll be your FTO. Right now one of Reyha's squads are trying to take out some Hiltorel forces above the Nemesis, but after they're dealt with, SCAMPS will send you out."

So I was right: someone has died. Thst's unfortunate and somewhat concerning. I'll need to be on my toes in this mission.I ask for details on Alpha's status and any obstacles to my reaching them—past the fighters immediately outside, naturally. It wouldn't do to meet some wing of reinforcements alone and unprepared. Also ask for some specifics about the hiltorel fighters: weak spots like engines or reactors, capability of the fixed and turreted guns, and so on. Every shot needs to count.

You stand there for a moment and ponder the information, then ask, "What's Alpha's status, and what are the obstacles to reaching them? Also, can I have some specifics about the Hiltorel fighters?"

Cho looks at you apologetically. "I just lost comms with them, so you'll have to tell them you're coming. I don't know their status, but Reyha's fighters should be clearing out the enemies in the way any time now." She eyes Reyha nervously, and then adds, "In the meantime, you could --"

Someone interrupts: A voice that sounds oddly familiar. "Time's up, Lieutenant Cho; this shitstain needs to move, so you can flap your jaw later. Vynka, or Varnika, or Velcro, or whatever the hell your name is - get your ass down to the hangar. You leave immediately, no questions asked, unless you want to get toasted. This is the only window we'll have."

((Important note: Vynkor is starting half a turn before everyone else. What this means is, I'm going to let you leave the Nemesis early, so you can travel wherever you want in one turn, and immediately start fighting with a full turn's worth of actions. This also means that, starting now, you're allowed to post in the mission thread. Good luck out there.))

The hangar is abuzz with activity. A handful of engineers are working on a patchwork CASKET sitting at the front of the hangar. "Vynkor!" someone shouts - a man standing beside your ship waves his arms at you, and you head in his direction. As you approach, you see a bright flash and a puff of smoke drift upwards from the back of the CASKET. The man ignores it entirely. "I'm Hale," he says, shaking your hand. He then points at a wadded-up suit on a little cart beside you. "Suit up fast. You need to be out of here now. After you're done, get in the cockpit and strap in." Without waiting to answer questions, or even wishing you good luck, he turns and leaves.

You pick up the suit and look around. The engineers don't even look at you; they're too busy shouting about your CASKET's computer. Apparently, they put a broken one in (hopefully by mistake), and it's causing issues - but there's nowhere to change clothes. Clearly, modesty isn't appreciated here. You'll have to change right where you are.

...

A few minutes later, you're sitting in your cockpit, suited and ready for combat. The items you've purchased are already strapped to your suit in their appropriate holsters. As the canopy closes, the din of the hangar dies down, muffled. Engineers outside make hand motions at you to start up your CASKET, and you do, pressing the appropriate buttons. You've never done this in your life, but somehow, it feels like you've done it a thousand times before. The screens about you flash and light up, the engines sputter and hum behind you. You sit there a moment, realizing how odd it seems that it feels like you've done this a thousand times before... and the comms crackle to life.

It's SCAMPS again. "What are you waiting for? Get moving! Your ship won't fly itself! Take off, head out the launch tube and get up into the sky. I'm transferring you back to Lt. Cho, and don't think she'll let you back before the mission is complete. I expect results. Now, move already!"

Feeling a bit uneasy, you apply power to the thrusters. Your CASKET lifts up from the surface of the hangar, hovering effortlessly. As far as cheap fighters go, it's quite agile. You turn toward the launch tube at the front of the hangar and apply power to the engines; your ship responds accordingly. It's not much longer until you're out of the hangar, accelerating down the launch tube beside one of the people from the other squad - and then you're out into the harsh, bright light of Nanyej's sun.

"Hiiiiiiiii! It's a surprisingly chipper voice that can only belong to one person. You look like you're ready to go! The enemy fighters just cleared out, but you'll have to hurry! Kendall's squad will keep them off while you leave. Hug the right canyon wall to be safe! Alpha could probably use reinforcements, so you might want to get in contact with them! Our comms don't reach very far right now, and they may have better ideas. Good luck out there, Vynkor!"

You apply full power to your engines and rocket away from the Nemesis. A frightful skirmish takes place on the canyon's left side - agile alien fighters weave to and fro as a squad of REKT CASKETs keeps them occupied; it looks like the enemies are making a measured, gradual retreat - but you're fully aware that any one of them could destroy you if they felt like it.

Welcome to REKT.

((You may now post in the mission thread. This thread will be locked for now.))

Ishmael
Bright, burning lights mar your vision as you open your eyes for the first time in what feels like centuries. Your head throbs as a deluge of sounds washes over your ears - voices and electronics.

"Heart rate increasing - get him on that machine, now!" "If we put him on it this early his tissues could take permanent damage!"

Your body seems ethereal, as though it doesn't exist. You're vaguely aware of someone, as though from a great distance. Dark tunnels flash before your eyes. Your life has a light at the end. ...Or something like that - nothing makes sense right now.

"It's hypoxia, get him on a ventilator and seed him with some NB15-337!" "It's not hypoxia, look at the charts!" "I know how to read, dammit, and that's hypoxia! The fourth function on the left nullifies those. Where did you even go to medical school?" "You didn't go to medical school either!" "I did, I just didn't study there - but I went!"

This goes on for a while. You eventually get bored and fall back asleep.

~~~

"Wake up."

You open your eyes. You're sitting in something that looks vaguely like... well, a ship's Engineering core. There's some hastily-erected medical equipment scattered around, as well as a large number of patients lying on floors, tables, and crates - and you're sitting on an operating table. Your chest aches. So does your head. Actually, you just feel terrible all over.

"You almost didn't make it," an elderly-looking man says, tapping at a PDA as he walks around you and checks your vital signs. He sounds like one of the voices from before. "Actually, you weren't even supposed to wake up in the first place. Someone cracked your tube. We had to get you out of there or you wouldn't have made it."

"Tube?"

He nods. "Cryo-tube. State-of-the-art technology, except... well, we didn't know it existed until yesterday. It's a long story." Coughing, he clears his throat and looks at you sternly. "The year is 3152. No, I'm not making this up. Yes, you're alive. No, you didn't age. ...Well, probably. You look to be about sixty, which is a lot older than we typically get people."

You look at him curiously, and note his nametag - Aaron Glover. He clears his throat uncomfortably and pulls a second PDA out of a large pocket in his coat. "Here, this is for you," he says. "Welcome to REKT. SCAMPS wants you down in the hangar soon. Congratulations on surviving cryo. So far we've only had a 25% success rate, and you're the oldest that's survived so far." With that, he walks away to tend to someone else.

You look at the PDA. It has a list of documents from someone named "SCAMPS"...

"Sorry to interrupt your work, Healer. I must thank thee for my deliverance."Bow to the medical man

"I'll pray to the FSM for you, Aaron Glover. May His all-loving tentacles embrace you and guard you from all ills."

Listen to his reply (if there's any),
bid him farewell
AND leave the medical yard.
Open my PDA
AND study the ship's plans.
Go someplace where I can grab a snack.
Once there, talk to the person in charge
AND ask for a ration bar, preferably the one that tastes like spaghetti with meatballs.
Give the FSM's blessing to the person who served me the food.
Sit down to eat,
Eat,
AND study documents sent by SCAMPS.